Back from the dead

[Dioclese]

Got a dead stick of a lemon tree sapling in an 18" tall pot. I thought the entire structure, roots and all were dead. Believe the few freezes here in S. Texas did the deed as it was outside.

I watered it anyway to see if anything would happen. Now I got lemon tree shoots near the main part, and one a few inches away. How should I pursue this regarding: How long to keep it in the pot before transplanting? Should I try to maintain the shoots near the main rootage, or the one further away, or both? My end intention is to transplant to the front yard for southern sun exposure blockage on the house The original tree was grown from seed, about

2 years old, and around 16" tall.

[Tom J]

If I expected to have lemons to use off my trees, I'd go to the nursery and get 2 grafted lemon trees and plant 15 or 20 feet apart for cross pollination. If the nurseries in your area don't carry citrus trees, that should tell you something!

If just to have a tropical tree, let it grow until you have a good strong trunk and cut the others.

Tom J

[Steve]

Tom's right.

Let everything grow this year so there is enough new top to keep the roots alive. Later decide which sprout would make the best trunk. You might not cut off the other parts completely at first but cut them back giving the advantage to the new trunk. (Cut the other parts off completely at some point.)

You could plant it out in your yard any time, BUT... if it died back in the pot, what's going to happen some year when you have a winter that's just a little colder than this one was? Will it die back to the ground again? If everyone in your neighborhood has citrus with no problem, then maybe your tree would be fine too once in the ground. If not, do you really want a tree in your front yard that might keep dying back?

Steve

[Dioclese]

Good point, Steve. My feeling is the fact the few freezes I had killed the main tree above ground. You are right. No reason that won't occur in the future planted in the ground. But, I recall my grandma had a fully grown orange tree since I can remember. There was some hard freezes. So, am guessing its the roll of the dice for warm winter temps to occur for a few years before the tree itself can tolerate cold temps without killing it.